A lot of things can change in eighteen hours. I discovered this recently. It started by boarding a Boeing Dreamliner. Shelley, myself and about three hundred other people, partook in a flight from Vancouver, Canada to Inchon, Korea.

The flight was great and the food amazing. We flew along the Pacific Rim of Fire heading north along the Alaskan Pan Handle. After an eleven hour flight of volcanoes, and an open ocean, we were greeted by Mount Fuji on the other side of the Pacific.

Upon arriving in Korea, we disembarked the plane and I stepped onto terra firma for the first time in eleven hours. It dawned on me that I was now standing in the Far East. On first inspection, every thing seemed the same as Vancouver; however, I seemed to be one of the taller people in the crowd, but otherwise, there was no real difference. After a two hour layover, it was back on an air plane again and heading for Hanoi, Vietnam.

Once on the plane, things were noticeably different. Korean Airlines is the way to fly in Asia. Before the usual safety announcements, all of the attendants who were dressed impeccably, lined up in front of three hundred passengers and bowed in a show of respect. Five hours later, we landed in the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi.

The airport is the showcase of Vietnam. Everyone working at the airport was sharply dressed. All customs people were members of The Peoples Republic of Vietnam and were in military uniform. We had just arrived into a communist country. Shelley, having travelled to so many countries and having a passport with stamps all over it, always gets the second look. After a stern look from the person at the counter, the visa was stamped with a loud thump and we were free to explore Vietnam.

Once we made it through the customs, we were met by the hotel driver and walked out to the car. We were transported to the Old Quarter in Hanoi and the driver held up the traffic so we could make it across the road without being run over. This was our first taste of south-east Asian traffic. Even though it was eleven pm, the hotel manager Max and his assistant greeted us at the door with a large smile and a hot cup of ginger tea.

Eighteen hours of travel had taken us around the world. It had landed us into an ancient culture and a city of 7.7 million people to explore. It would prove to be a trip of a lifetime. In two weeks, we saw people like us with all the same dreams and realities living day to day and working hard to provide for their families. We enjoyed seeing people sitting on little benches on the street sharing a meal or drink with friends talking on the street corner and sharing a laugh.

The continent, culture, language, religions, and customs were all different, but everywhere I have travelled the people are the same. The more that I travel, the more that I am starting to think on a global scale. We are all on this planet and we are all the same. If some being stumbled upon our planet and took a look at us on a global scale, they wouldn’t notice any of the differences that cause conflict amongst the different groups of people. To them we would just be of one origin. It’s a place called Earth.

Final Thoughts as a Single Person: It is interesting how as I get closer to my wedding on December 19, 2015, how important the whole thing has become to both of us. What started out as a simple “yes” to a romantic proposal has now required me to really take stock of what I value in a commitment of this nature, especially when it is not my first time around. This time, I am heading into this marriage odyssey with my eyes wide open, and that makes it all the more interesting.

Some describe these last few days as wedding jitters and succumb to cold feet. Others talk about it as this euphoric time of heady excitement and overlook the reality of what they are undertaking as a couple. Interestingly, despite Chris and I having lived together before hand and having some life experience under our belts, I have been feeling a whole array of emotions from nervousness to joy. Where before we both felt that getting married to each other was just a nice romantic gesture to “seal the deal”, we now see some larger value for each of us. Perhaps we too have been indoctrinated, domesticated, and enculturated into a society that promotes this type of thing. It has become evident to us that despite our initial non-challance about going through these traditional formalities, we do value the institution of marriage.

It has been interesting to watch ourselves evolve as we meet with the minister, go through the exercise of gathering our families in a small affair, and to decide how we want to commit to each other in a special sort of way.

Family Ties: At first we were more interested in eloping. The wedding seemed to be all about us this time. However, when it came right down to it, we realized that where our families are all far apart, and disconnected from each other, this small affair might be the only time where they actually travel distances to meet. Although this was not our sole purpose for marrying with friends and family, it became an important consideration. Our children are adults, and our parents are getting older. We grew up in different provinces, and our families have very little reason to know each other. Therefore, we felt this a valuable opportunity to introduce them. As well, we wanted to share this special event with our children, in particular, to model the value of this relationship experience. We are learning that it is more than just an official photo opportunity. It is a meaningful event that has forced us to really discuss our future in great detail and to ask our families to once again believe and support us as we make another commitment to someone new.

The Questions: We decided to have a minister marry us. We felt that there was a spiritual purpose in our marriage, and that a minister would be more apt to capture this essence of our union than a justice of the peace. With this being said, we were careful about how that looked in a religious context for each of us based on our faith and beliefs. The minister asked us some probing questions. As well, we chose to do our own marriage preparation through some readings and questions, and the work proved to be both valuable, and challenging. Again, this time around we recognized that part of marriage is romantic, but another part of getting married is very practical. We were entering into a marriage of business, and at this age, impending caregiving of one or the other. We have a window of a couple of decades before the “end is near”. We both know that we need to use our time together wisely, and so our life priorities have been a focus of many discussions. The link we found most valuable was the following put out by Nathan Cobb, PhD at http://www.nathancobb.com/support-files/marriagequiz.pdf.

Questions emerged over our past two months, and the really important ones in the last couple of weeks:

Love: How do we meet each other’s love needs? We talked quite a bit about hitting our love targets, and explored the idea of love languages: http://www.5lovelanguages.com

Experience: What do we want to do with our next ten years in the window of opportunity of our best health years together?

Time: How do we want to prioritize our time?

Money: How will we finance our lives together through sickness and in health?

Relationship: How will we “do what it takes” to sustain a strong connection as friends and lovers?

Communication: What works and does not work to help us align our thoughts and feelings together?

Self Help: What work do we need to do to be our best selves so that we can be the best for this relationship?

Conflict: How must we best address problems together so we are honest and respectful of each other?

Intimacy: How should we live to insure that we cherish our intimacy together?

Employment: How do we want to spend our final years before retirement?

Retirement: What will we do when we retire, and how will we support our retirement years?

Prenuptial Agreement: What happens should the unthinkable happen?

Celebration: How do we celebrate and find joy in our wedding and honeymoon, and beyond?

What I have Learned: It is really simple. Marriage is a lot of work. It requires telling someone that I will do what it takes to keep us loving, healthy, relationally functional, and financially viable for the rest of our lives together. It is a big step for Chris coming our of a more than 25-year marriage; and a big one for me having only been married for a few years of my life, and a single mother for most of it.

Our first kick at the can involved a lot of hope, naivete, and steep learning curves. Now, we have another chance to say “I do”. This time, we have to develop the necessary marriage skills to be ourselves in the larger context of being a couple. Both of us must unlearn, re-learn, and learn all of the things we will need to best be together as man and wife. These are big steps for both of us, and as we get in the final stretch of the wedding, we see the enormity of the commitment. It is best to admit that this is a scary proposition, but a valuable one. I can never learn about relationships if I do not take on living one to the best of my abilities. I am excited, happy, scared, and oddly calm, all at the same time. How lucky am I to have this special opportunity to marry a wonderful man.

Warranty Runs Out at 50: Sometimes it takes travelling away to see a new relationship for what it really means to me. Being on a trip to Hungary, Slavakia, Austria, Germany and Holland on a river boat cruise given to my sister and I by my parents to share with them, forced me to really take stock of who I am having just turned 50, and my new relationship with Chris. First of all, I had not counted on the first five months of our relationship to be when my body warranty decided to come up for renewal. Medical issues crept up on me from my bladder to shoulder to incredible work fatigue and now to a matter with my eyes. Chris had not counted on losing a position that he had quit a position for in Alberta in order to move back to the Comox Valley so that we could leap into this relationship with both feet; and, as well, so that he could become better connected with his family on the island.

However, I still see our new romance like a fairy tale. Like all fairy tales promise ” and they all lived happily ever after”, actually seemed possible for me in this new situation. I am interested in knowing what that actually means. I hope to explore that more with Chris who has agreed to document some of our journey together in order for us to make sense of it, and as well, to share our ideas with others who are learning about relationships.

Jumping Right In: Regardless of our life obstacles that seemed to jump out in front of us at every turn, Chris and I embraced our new dating relationship with a bit of wild abandon. We started with a romantic trip to Tofino. Here we explored the rain forests of the west side of Vancouver Island. Soon after, I took him to my little cottage on Pender Island where he helped me to set it up for the season. I was so pleased to share this little hideaway that I had been keeping to myself most of the time. Then we backpacked into the Elk River Valley, and experimented with our new hiking equipment. We planned how we would approach our next treks together, and more importantly, how we would lighten our pack loads. Trips to Victoria, Calgary and then again to Pender Island helped us to solidify our relationship by meeting friends and family. Words of love and forever were shared, and we started to believe in each other as a strong partnership that might enable us to approach our life dreams in new and dynamic ways.

The Peanut Gallery: Like all new relationships, there is always commentary from the gallery (family, friends, colleagues and other). Everyone has advice for the new couple, but more importantly, they want to make sure that Chris and I are incredibly happy. “Happy”, by the conservative definition, means being very very careful. “Are you sure?” “How do you know?” “This seems very fast.” These kinds of comments were anticipated, and surprisingly, despite a few cautionary tales, we were well-supported by most of the people that we cared about, despite a couple of disappointments. It seemed to be a consensus that at 49 and 50 we really had more to lose by not trying out something that we could see to be so very special, than by being laden with fear and speculation. Everyone seemed to say how lucky we were to believe that we had found our soul mates. “Taking on a new relationship would take hard work”, was the general theme of most conversations, and I was prepared to learn what I could from some of my married friends and family. It continued to surprise me that after so much time as a dedicated single person, that I had finally let down my guard to become a couple.

A Second Look: What I am finding as I look at our relationship from a distance, is that I am learning more about relationships by jumping into one than by standing precariously on the edge wondering what it might be like. It has not been our first time apart given that he was in Fort MacMurray for work, and then I was in Austin Texas on holidays for some of our time together. However, being away from Chris until the end of the month, has forced me to really evaluate where I am standing in my head and heart in our new connection together. What is abundantly clear, is that I miss him very much. What I have learned through our exciting romantic encounters, and through some real life challenges are the following three things that perhaps I am only seeing now for the first time as an older person in a new relationship:

Sex is Important: At this age, if the sex isn’t good, it is telling of the relationship. Sex is the relationship thermometer of so many things. It is good to be with someone who has a similar intensity about the physical side of a relationship as I do. This means learning to be as creative as possible while understanding what makes the other tick in so many vital ways in and out of the bedroom. Sharing a strong sexual energy with each other is a spiritual connection for us, and it helps us stay very close in ways that words and actions are not always capable of doing otherwise.

Intention, Words and Actions: Follow-through is the foundation of trust. What has meant more to me than anything about my relationship with Chris is his commitment to do what he says that he will do. We have agreed to “say what we mean and then do what we say”. I cannot believe how this is playing out so well in terms of us trusting each other. When he says that he is going to do something, despite a few normal circumstances, he always gets things done. Perhaps this type of behaviour is a sign of maturity, but it was seriously lacking for me in previous relationships. When his words turn into actions, it feels like respect to me, and I believe that it encourages me to do the same for him in return.

Mind the Gap: One thing that we have agreed to do regularly is to “check in” with each other. When we speak about checking in, it is about connecting with each other in really deep and intentional ways. We ask each other questions, usually at the end of our day, to insure that we are close and connected. Sometimes these conversations have led us into some really interesting directions because we are forced to disclose how we are truly feeling with each other where we might normally have skirted over topics in favour of a good night’s sleep. We have also agreed to talk about things when issues arise and to anticipate and respond to matters where we feel that there might be a gap developing with each other. This has been our biggest joy and challenge together to learn how to do this together.

Reflections: In a nutshell, anyone can be in love, but not everyone can stay in love. Both Chris and I have experienced the devastation of failed relationships. It can be a humiliating thing to lose people that we believed we would stay with us in long term relationships. However, we both believe that we had the good fortune to learn from our previous experiences so that at this time in our lives, we can be sure to give each other our best. Chris is always telling me that he wants our relationship “to be extraordinary”. He also says quite regularly that he wants to learn to be the best boyfriend that I have ever had. What a wonderful thing to say to someone that you love.

I have much to learn to be the best girlfriend in return. I stumble over my humanness on a daily basis. I learn more about myself and Chris everyday, and I hope to continue to feed this relationship with grace and kindness wherever possible. We both believe that we have been given a special gift, and now we have the choice to decide what we do with this chance afforded to us by the universe.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

Getting Bossy with God: Elizabeth Gilbert references in her book entitled Eat, Pray, Love this idea of petitioning God for what we want. Earlier this year, I made a very deliberate request to have certain things happen to me in order for me to be the best that I could be for myself and everyone around me. It felt a bit like bargaining with God and saying, “Look God, I have been waiting for a long time to find, accomplish or experience certain things in my life, and I am determined to make this happen. Your help is required, and I hope that you will ‘step up’ and help make it happen. If you do, I can fulfill my dreams and be in a place of greater abundance to help others as well”. It was not a typical experience to negotiate with God as a conservative Protestant who was always a little bit shy to ask the universe for anything knowing that I am better off than most people around the world.

However, I had been waiting 49 years for one very important thing in my life–a relationship with someone special–a champion. I wanted a relationship in this new and wonderful place where I had dared to start a new life on Vancouver Island. People were starting to worry about me being alone, saying things like, “There is no perfect person out there, and you might have to lower your standards.” I always shook my head and responded quite confidently, and convincingly (even to myself) that I knew what I was looking for. I would find it, and when I met him, I would know it.

One of my friends asked me, “What if you had to wait until your next life time to meet someone? What if you are not intended to meet this person now or any time soon?” I replied pretty definitively, “No, I am not prepared to wait on this one, nor die in order to experience another lifetime to do so. I am going to get bossy with God and say exactly what I want, and when I want it.” The deal that I had made explicitly with God was this: Meeting someone special to share a life with would need to happen before I turned 50 years old. This relationship would need to be a good fit, and so much so that I would feel very “wowwed” by this person. The “wow” factor was something very important to me.

She continued to debate the matter, “You don’t need to have someone in your life. When you are ready to really love yourself, you will not need anyone else, or you will attract someone to you who loves you just for you.” Of course she is correct. This is absolutely the case. I have spent many years learning how to love and respect myself on many levels and for many personal and professional outcomes, not just finding a partner. However, I felt ready. In fact, I was liking myself so much that I was starting to choose my own company instead of going out with people on dates on the off-chance that they didn’t have crazy deal-breaking habits that I could not overlook (smoking dope, lying, being married, being a workaholic, posting naked pictures online, cheating, anger management issues, addictions, etc.)

And then one day…just when I was pretty close to closing down my online dating site (as it always seemed a bit more like viewing America-Canada’s Most Wanted than a perfect life mate), I got a message. He commented on my profile picture that happened to be a picture of me in the exact same setting as his profile picture on the top of Mt. Maxwell on Saltspring Island. We were posed similarly, and had the same gorgeous Gulf Island view behind us. I was in a practical mode of thinking at that point, to meet over coffee. My observation in the cyber dating world was that there is a serious “failure to launch in the real world” phenomenon of emailing and texting, and I was not interested in this type of protracted dating process with little outcome. Given some recent dating encounters that I had experienced since I had moved here, a couple of which had gotten my hopes up about, I did not want to invest too much energy and hope into something until I investigated the situation first hand.

We efficiently negotiated our early morning meeting time and place like a business deal in a quick phone call. It felt like a business transaction. You can tell a lot about someone by their ability to engage in a phone call. He was polite, responded to my questions, and asked me a bit about myself. I had been used to phone conversations where I either had to carry the entire interaction, or had to sit listening in a zoned out state of utter disengagement. Instead, this gentleman had phone call etiquette figured out, and I liked him immediately. I reminded him that I would prefer to meet him in person instead of walking in the woods alone with a stranger, which was his original suggestion. I joked that I might be an axe murderer, and it might be in his best interests to meet me in a public place. He agreed. We met for breakfast in downtown Courtenay.

At First Glance: It did not take long for me to know that I would love this man. Not only did we like the same food, but we loved to hike. We quickly decided to go on a walk by the ocean, and I noticed that we were literally tripping over ourselves to talk about what we liked to do; and the types of experiences we hoped to have in our lives. We did not talk about our personal lives (families, ex’s or anything really intimate). It was an immense relief not to be interrogated by someone about personal matters that I preferred left to a later time.

The topic of travelling quickly identified itself as a priority to us. I had done more than him, but he was keen about it. He had lived a few places around the world because his father had been in the military, and liked being centered in a home base on the island. I had lived in one solitary city all of my life, and had travelled to escape the monotony of living in one city for my whole life. However, we both agreed that as we approached turning 50 (although he was quick to remind me that he was 10 months behind me from doing so) that we had to start putting some other priorities ahead of work and family. It was quickly apparent that we were the responsible types, used to taking care of other people–the stable, yet predictable backbone of society that had the potential of propping up others instead of ourselves.

At one point on my dating site, I had simply asked, “Who is interested in travelling the world?” I had a couple of responses, but none that were very serious about the idea. Most men wanted to travel the world (and never had), and those who had travelled the world were somewhere else in the world at this time living a nomadic experience far beyond my reach. This fellow seemed tenuous about life changes, but keen to reconsider a life plan where he was presently working in Fort McMurray to frugally save and help support his family. I presented to him early on in our walk, the fact that at some point soon, I intended to quit work and travel the world. He did not baulk at my candid admission which I usually used to scare men who lacked any sense of wonder and adventure, away. However, in his own even-tempered way, he considered my question, and he seemed interested.

See You Around Sometime: However, just when I though the date had gone well, he dropped me off at the car, and left me with the words, “I had a great time. Give me a call if you would like to do something outdoors. I hope to see you around sometime.” I smiled, and thought to myself, “Like hell…” I have never been interested in passive men lacking initiative, and especially a man who would choose to leave me to ask him out on a second date after one that I felt had gone very well. I smiled and said, “See you around sometime,” and walked away. As I drove home, I thought to myself glibly, “Well, you win some and you lose some.”

The next day I got a text. He invited me out for a date for dinner. A text, I pondered, was not the best way to be asked anyone out, especially me, but it was a start. I contemplated the demise of our social norms as texting in sound-bytes in incomplete sentences and poor spelling or grammar was quickly becoming the new social reality. I had grown up in a face-to-face age. However, I decided that I would meet him again because I had enjoyed our first date.

Oh, by the way…: Somewhere between a walk on Goose Spit in the Comox Harbour and our date for dinner at the Atlas Cafe, I knew that something magical was happening to us. We talked about very innocuous things–in fact, we talked a lot about nothing at all. We spent most of our evening talking about places we had been and food that we liked to cook. I liked the simplicity of the encounter, and his good humor in response to most topics. He was witty, and made me feel interesting. The conversation was easy, and it was pretty apparent that we shared some similarities that we marveled at each time something came up that we had in common exclaiming, “Me too!” numerous times throughout the evening. It was obvious that we had good connection.

He drove me home, and kept his hands nervously on the steering wheel as we said our good nights. I asked for a hug, and we awkwardly exchanged ones in the confines of his sports car. He mentioned just as I was leaving, “Oh, by the way, I will be away for three weeks with work.” Long distance was not something that I had met with success in my life. In fact, no one I knew had ever found it very easy. I was alarmed that I had the good fortune of meeting someone so special, but would be yanked away from building this connection any further for almost a month.

Getting Bossy with God: Elizabeth Gilbert references in her book entitled Eat, Pray, Love this idea of petitioning God for what we want. Earlier this year, I made a very deliberate request to have certain things happen to me in order for me to be the best that I could be for myself and everyone around me. It felt a bit like bargaining with God and saying, “Look God, I have been waiting for a long time to find, accomplish or experience certain things in my life, and I am determined to make this happen. Your help is required, and I hope that you will ‘step up’ and help make it happen. If you do, I can fulfill my dreams and be in a place of greater abundance to help others as well”. It was not a typical experience to negotiate with God as a conservative Protestant who was always a little bit shy to ask the universe for anything knowing that I am better off than most people around the world.

However, I had been waiting 49 years for one very important thing in my life–a relationship with someone special–a champion. I wanted a relationship in this new and wonderful place where I had dared to start a new life on Vancouver Island. People were starting to worry about me being alone, saying things like, “There is no perfect person out there, and you might have to lower your standards.” I always shook my head and responded quite confidently, and convincingly (even to myself) that I knew what I was looking for. I would find it, and when I met him, I would know it.

One of my friends asked me, “What if you had to wait until your next life time to meet someone? What if you are not intended to meet this person now or any time soon?” I replied pretty definitively, “No, I am not prepared to wait on this one, nor die in order to experience another lifetime to do so. I am going to get bossy with God and say exactly what I want, and when I want it.” The deal that I had made explicitly with God was this: Meeting someone special to share a life with would need to happen before I turned 50 years old. This relationship would need to be a good fit, and so much so that I would feel very “wowwed” by this person. The “wow” factor was something very important to me.

She continued to debate the matter, “You don’t need to have someone in your life. When you are ready to really love yourself, you will not need anyone else, or you will attract someone to you who loves you just for you.” Of course she is correct. This is absolutely the case. I have spent many years learning how to love and respect myself on many levels and for many personal and professional outcomes, not just finding a partner. However, I felt ready. In fact, I was liking myself so much that I was starting to choose my own company instead of going out with people on dates on the off-chance that they didn’t have crazy deal-breaking habits that I could not overlook (smoking dope, lying, being married, being a workaholic, posting naked pictures online, cheating, anger management issues, addictions, etc.)

And then one day…just when I was pretty close to closing down my online dating site (as it always seemed a bit more like viewing America-Canada’s Most Wanted than a perfect life mate), I got a message. He commented on my profile picture that happened to be a picture of me in the exact same setting as his profile picture on the top of Mt. Maxwell on Saltspring Island. We were posed similarly, and had the same gorgeous Gulf Island view behind us. I was in a practical mode of thinking at that point, to meet over coffee. My observation in the cyber dating world was that there is a serious “failure to launch in the real world” phenomenon of emailing and texting, and I was not interested in this type of protracted dating process with little outcome. Given some recent dating encounters that I had experienced since I had moved here, a couple of which had gotten my hopes up about, I did not want to invest too much energy and hope into something until I investigated the situation first hand.

We efficiently negotiated our early morning meeting time and place like a business deal in a quick phone call. It felt like a business transaction. You can tell a lot about someone by their ability to engage in a phone call. He was polite, responded to my questions, and asked me a bit about myself. I had been used to phone conversations where I either had to carry the entire interaction, or had to sit listening in a zoned out state of utter disengagement. Instead, this gentleman had phone call etiquette figured out, and I liked him immediately. I reminded him that I would prefer to meet him in person instead of walking in the woods alone with a stranger, which was his original suggestion. I joked that I might be an axe murderer, and it might be in his best interests to meet me in a public place. He agreed. We met for breakfast in downtown Courtenay.

At First Glance: It did not take long for me to know that I would love this man. Not only did we like the same food, but we loved to hike. We quickly decided to go on a walk by the ocean, and I noticed that we were literally tripping over ourselves to talk about what we liked to do; and the types of experiences we hoped to have in our lives. We did not talk about our personal lives (families, ex’s or anything really intimate). It was an immense relief not to be interrogated by someone about personal matters that I preferred left to a later time.

The topic of travelling quickly identified itself as a priority to us. I had done more than him, but he was keen about it. He had lived a few places around the world because his father had been in the military, and liked being centered in a home base on the island. I had lived in one solitary city all of my life, and had travelled to escape the monotony of living in one city for my whole life. However, we both agreed that as we approached turning 50 (although he was quick to remind me that he was 10 months behind me from doing so) that we had to start putting some other priorities ahead of work and family. It was quickly apparent that we were the responsible types, used to taking care of other people–the stable, yet predictable backbone of society that had the potential of propping up others instead of ourselves.

At one point on my dating site, I had simply asked, “Who is interested in travelling the world?” I had a couple of responses, but none that were very serious about the idea. Most men wanted to travel the world (and never had), and those who had travelled the world were somewhere else in the world at this time living a nomadic experience far beyond my reach. This fellow seemed tenuous about life changes, but keen to reconsider a life plan where he was presently working in Fort McMurray to frugally save and help support his family. I presented to him early on in our walk, the fact that at some point soon, I intended to quit work and travel the world. He did not baulk at my candid admission which I usually used to scare men who lacked any sense of wonder and adventure, away. However, in his own even-tempered way, he considered my question, and he seemed interested.

See You Around Sometime: However, just when I though the date had gone well, he dropped me off at the car, and left me with the words, “I had a great time. Give me a call if you would like to do something outdoors. I hope to see you around sometime.” I smiled, and thought to myself, “Like hell…” I have never been interested in passive men lacking initiative, and especially a man who would choose to leave me to ask him out on a second date after one that I felt had gone very well. I smiled and said, “See you around sometime,” and walked away. As I drove home, I thought to myself glibly, “Well, you win some and you lose some.”

The next day I got a text. He invited me out for a date for dinner. A text, I pondered, was not the best way to be asked anyone out, especially me, but it was a start. I contemplated the demise of our social norms as texting in sound-bytes in incomplete sentences and poor spelling or grammar was quickly becoming the new social reality. I had grown up in a face-to-face age. However, I decided that I would meet him again because I had enjoyed our first date.

Oh, by the way…: Somewhere between a walk on Goose Spit in the Comox Harbour and our date for dinner at the Atlas Cafe, I knew that something magical was happening to us. We talked about very innocuous things–in fact, we talked a lot about nothing at all. We spent most of our evening talking about places we had been and food that we liked to cook. I liked the simplicity of the encounter, and his good humor in response to most topics. He was witty, and made me feel interesting. The conversation was easy, and it was pretty apparent that we shared some similarities that we marveled at each time something came up that we had in common exclaiming, “Me too!” numerous times throughout the evening. It was obvious that we had good connection.

He drove me home, and kept his hands nervously on the steering wheel as we said our good nights. I asked for a hug, and we awkwardly exchanged ones in the confines of his sports car. He mentioned just as I was leaving, “Oh, by the way, I will be away for three weeks with work.” Long distance was not something that I had met with success in my life. In fact, no one I knew had ever found it very easy. I was alarmed that I had the good fortune of meeting someone so special, but would be yanked away from building this connection any further for almost a month.

Life is a Gigantic Jigsaw Puzzle: I am learning that life is a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. Unbeknownst to me, God has been slipping me little pieces of my life puzzle all along. For the first part of my life, I didn’t know that I was receiving the pieces in the first place. In the latter part of my life, I wasn’t really sure what to do with them. However, all of a sudden, the puzzle is taking shape. I see the pieces and am fitting them into place:

My Parents: My parents set me off on a journey in the key of E flat major, and that is where I have been setting my melody line ever since. It has been a good key, and when I modulate to another one, I always find myself resolving back to my original key. I determined some fundamental values on which I guide my life around their life principles. In many ways, they set the bar very high for how I operate in the world because they were honest, fair, and incredibly authentic. For some of my life, I have been disappointed to learn that not everyone operates in this transparent way. How fortunate to know that this moral compass that they gave me has guided me through some tricky terrain, and back to myself again. The puzzle piece that they gave me was to be honest.

My Sister: Five years after me, an annoying young baby that cried all of the time, joined me in the world. I was not impressed by the whole situation, but there she was. I had to like it or lump it, and fortunately, she became a wonderful part of my life. She is teaching me a lot about this idea of accepting people for who they are. My younger sister has become a wise mentor to me in ways that I had not anticipated. She grounds me in good advice regardless of my confusing life choices. She appreciates me for my high spirit and always gives me space to return home over and over again, regardless of the challenges.

My Son: My son is my legacy. It dawns on me now that all of the music that I wrote in the beginning of my life (and has lay dormant for a while), has been waiting to be produced, published and presented to the world by my son. He just offered to put my songs that I painstaking composed onto staff paper, into his new technology and sound equipment so that I can finally share it in bigger and better ways. I had to nurture a musical son so that he could see my music through to completion. He also wants to do so to better understand some of the melodic and harmonic principles that I studied and then taught as a music teacher. What a fabulous gift to learn that sometimes our children see our life dreams through to completion when we no longer have the fortitude or the insight to do so.

My Childhood Friends: My friends have been coming through for me in very integral ways. My childhood friends are those big obvious pieces of my puzzle that have been slotting very easily into places. They were there all along, and I am just beginning to see how they fill up my life in profound and wonderful ways. Like siblings, these crazy people just seem to stick around and be there for me even when I don’t see them in a while. I am very blessed to know that I am accepted for exactly who I am for an entire lifetime. Home will always be where my childhood friends and family reside.

My New Friends: Making new friends in a new culture is not always an easy thing to do. I cannot rest on my laurels and expect new people to love me for who I am. It takes time to garner trust, and to show them that I am trustworthy. However, a few people have risen to the task of letting me into their lives, and have offered me a fresh start in new relationships. These people have decided to accept me at this point in my life without any preconceived notions—baggage free. It is liberating to be liked for exactly who I am at this very point in my journey. It allows me to reinvent myself a bit as I make these new connections. I am not exactly who I was 40—30—20 years ago.

My Life Work: I am just learning that the job that I go to every day is not necessarily meant to be my life work. This realization that our life calling is not always our eight to five paying job can be both disconcerting and motivating. I realize that I must now reconcile the two and make the time that I spend daily go towards fulfilling the dreams that I have to write, research and teach. My life path has presented me with serendipitous connections so that I can see this idea of my spiritual vocation very clearly. However, it hasn’t been until recently that I now know that I need to take risks in order to satisfy my true reason for being on this earth.

Travelling: My brain gets bogged down in neural ruts. My drug is travel. Seeing new people and places where I have never been before, allows me to reinvigorate who I am in the moment to moment of each new experience. I stay young because I make a concerted effort to experience new things every day of my life in my home and in the world around me. Travelling locally, nationally and internationally has turned me into a much better human being because it has taught me that the whole world is universally connected to me. I appreciate every new experience with gratitude because it teaches me something new about the people around me, and in turn, about myself. Each trip has brought me some new piece of wisdom that was sitting inside of me all along, but I had never tapped into it until I went away to find it.

The Arts: What re-energizes my soul whenever it is a bit down and droopy is a night of live music, a visit to the art gallery, or enjoying some live theatre. All of this creativity inspires me to be creative myself. Being in the presence of imagination spawns innovative thinking and feeling deep inside of me in ways that help me to grow and learn. I truly believe that this highly charged artistic world keeps me young when I make the impetus to tap into it. I am drawn to people who initiate inventive thinking because they influence my journey in very powerful ways. The world is not meant to be seen as only a series of logical outcome. It is meant to be experienced as a magical encounter, and I believe that this best happens through the arts.

Animals: I had pets in my younger life. Unfortunately, they were all killed on a road, or died by terrible natural and unnatural causes. I did have one stray pussy cat (that my father was not terribly thrilled to keep around) for sixteen years, and this little tabby taught me a lot about love and friendship. Recently, I am learning that having two little ginger tabbies brings me incredible joy. I am learning empathy and understanding by responding to the tiny needs that they require of me everyday. It brings me great pleasure to fulfill their little routines and small pleasures. Animals are so simple, and yet, so capable of generating incredible tenderness from the people who they love and love them back. I had forgotten how important animals can be to me.

Nature: I have learned that being in woods is my sacred space. I am always fortified by the glory of the green that surrounds me in the wilderness on Vancouver Island. This place that I was drawn to from childhood has now become my home. I may travel far and wide, but the Pacific North West Islands of Canada are where I feel most connected to the earth and my own spirit. I hope to share this with the important people in my life so that we can truly learn about how the forests nourish us as human beings. I find it very romantic to be given flowers because they are a gift from nature. However, I have removed all of the house plants from my home because I believe that living plants need to be outdoors, and it is there where I choose to enjoy them.

Love: I have loved many people in my lifetime with complete and utter abandonment. Many people have pursued me with this idea that they love me too. However, real love has been a truly elusive experience for me. Complete and unconditional love has evaded me most of my lifetime (except for my family and friends), potentially because I learned too late in life that I had to really love myself first with all of my strengths, foibles and insecurities before I could love another. In doing so, I am now able to present outwardly who I really am, and attract someone who is a good fit for both of us. I have learned that my soul has to be a true expression of my heart’s desires in order for it to find its match in the universe. As well, I have learned that love is a verb. If someone really loves me, they say what they mean and do what they say.

Looking Backwards: Turning 50 is a big deal. Anyone who says otherwise is a bit delusional about getting older. To turn 50 is to see an entire half of a century unfold in unique and wonderful ways. It is to be able to go into museums and say, “Hey, I used that telephone years ago. I learned to sew on that treadle sewing machine. My grandmother cooked on that wooden stove. My mother did her weaving on this type of loom… etc.” I can no longer go into a museum without realizing that I have lived part of its history. From these living archives, I discover from where I have come, and then consider where I am going next.

As I enter the next half of my century, the little discreet pieces of my life are finally coming together because I am finally paying attention to them. I can see the puzzle taking shape, and am marvelling at the picture developing in front of me. The picture is not exactly what I had anticipated at the outset of my life. It is becoming a whole living artifact. If I squint my eyes tightly, I can see the emerging picture. It looks a bit to me like a dense forest of Douglas Fir and cedar trees growing beside the ocean. The sun is shining through the fern foliage, and a waterfall bursts from a crevice in the cliffs nearby. I think it is a picture of home.